The Zodiac Cyphers

August 1, 1969 The San Francisco Chronicle (as well as The Examiner, and The Vallejo Times-Herald, each with one piece of the cypher) received this letter:

Dear Editor:
This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass at lake Herman and the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo. To prove I killed them I shall state some facts which only I and the police know.

Christmass
1. Brand name of ammo
Super X
2.10 shots were fired
3. the boy was on his back
with his feet to the car
4. the girlwas on her right
side feet to the west

4th July
1. girl was wearing paterned
slacks
2. the boy was also shot in the knee
3. Brand name of ammo was
western

Here is part of a cipher the other 2 parts of this cipher are being mailed to the editors of the Vallejo Times and SF Examiner.

I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my identit. If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night. I will cruse around all weekend killig lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend.

The cyphers (together) were as follows:

After Naval Intelligence and the C.I.A. could not solve the code a high school teacher, Donald Gene Harden, solved it when reading it in a newspaper:

I Like Killing People Because It Is So Much Fun It Is More Fun Than Killing Wild Game In The Forrest Because Man Is The Most Dangerous Animal Of All To Kill Something Gives Me The Most Thrilling Experience It Is Even Better Than Getting Your Rocks Off With A Girl The BEst Part Of It Is That When I Die I Will Be Reborn In Paradise And Those I Have Killed Will Become My Slaves I Will Not Give You My Name Because You Will Try To Slow Down Or Stop My Collecting Of Slaves For Afterlife E B E O R I E T E M E T H H P I T I

The Zodiac Killer was never apprehended, and claims to have killed 40+ in his many taunting letters to police.